Winner, 2009 J. Russell Major Prize, American Historical AssociationWinner, 2009 Frances Richardson Keller-Sierra Prize, Western Association of Women HistoriansWinner, 2008 Charles E. Smith Award, European History section of the Southern Historical Association This groundbreaking study examines complex notions of paternity and fatherhood in modern France through the lens of contested paternity. Drawing from archival judicial records on paternity suits, paternity denials, deprivation of paternity, and adoption, from the end of the eighteenth century through the twentieth, Rachel G. Fuchs reveals how paternity was defined and how it functioned in the culture and experiences of individual men and women. She addresses the competing definitions of paternity and of families, how public policy toward paternity and the family shifted, and what individuals did to facilitate their personal and familial ideals and goals. Issues of paternity and the family have broad implications for an understanding of how private acts were governed by laws of the state. Focusing on paternity as a category of family history, Contested Paternity emphasizes the importance of fatherhood, the family, and the law within the greater context of changing attitudes toward parental responsibility.

Focusing on paternity as a category of family history, Contested Paternity emphasizes the importance of fatherhood, the family, and the law within the greater context of changing attitudes toward parental responsibility.

Recent years have seen a dramatic increase in children born out of wedlock. Such a situation is of great concern because the poorest demographic group in America is children in single-parent families, which puts great strain on the welfare rolls and adversely impacts the economy. And one should not neglect the influence on the children, who often go through life without a father. Everyone who fathers a child is obligated to at least contribute financially to child support, rather than dodge that responsibility. Consequently, the government has increased its efforts in child support enforcement by establishing paternities through DNA tests and attempting, with the aid of state and local agencies, to apprehend so-called 'dead-beat dads'. This book presents background information on paternity establishment and its process, while describing several relevant federal programs and policy options. Included are analyses of genetic testing and the legislative history of this issue. With the increase in single-parent families and the problems they face, the topic of paternity establishment holds great importance to today's society, and this book is a valuable tool in understanding the facts around the issue.

For most of human history, paternity was uncertain. Blood types, fingerprinting, and, recently, DNA analysis promised to solve the riddle of paternity. But even genetic certainty did not end the quest for the father. Rather, as Nara Milanich reveals, it confirms the social, cultural, and political nature of the age-old question: Who’s your father?

Recently, many political voices have indicated a strong desire to track down absent fathers who have absconded without fulfilling child support obligations to their biological or adopted children. This renewed interest in deadbeat dads has resulted from a recognition that the social welfare programs, which pick up the tab for abandoned children, are contributing significantly to an ever-increasing federal budget deficit. Meanwhile, in a large number of cases, there simply isn't enough money for an absent parent to maintain his own separate support and fulfill the support obligations that the law requires. This book explores the history, reforms, and consequences of child support in America. The authors have included case studies as well as discussions on the psychological consequences of separating families, effects of divorce laws on the award of child support, contested paternity, and child custody alternatives. They conclude with a discussion on economic responsibility and the deadbeat epidemic. The book is intended to empower the larger number of parents who are caught in the midst of overworked agencies, discouraging tales, and the lack of information that keeps them paralyzed from acting on their own behalf.